, in the sense of
kalām Allāh the Word of God, must here be distinguished from 1)
kalām meaning
ʿilm al-kalām [
q.v.], “defensive apologetics”, or “the science of discourse” (on God); and 2)
kalima [
q.v.] which, in the expression
kalimat Allāh , means “a” (single) divine utterance.
Kalām Allāh is found at least three times in the Ḳurʾān (II, 75, IX, 6, XLVIII, 15). God spoke to the prophets (II, 253); He spoke “clearly” to Moses (IV, 164, VII, 143), who had been chosen to transmit His messages and His Word (VII, 144); God…

, unjust man, guilty of
fisḳ ,—that is to say, one who has committed one or several “great sins” (
kabāʾir ). Most of the authors of
ʿilm al-kalām ¶ avoid extending the term
fāsiḳ to the believer who is guilty only of “lesser sins” (
ṣag̲h̲āʾir ). The “name and status” (
al-ism wa ’l-ḥukm ) of the
fāsiḳ is one of the cardinal points discussed by the
kalām . Its origin goes back to the battle of Ṣiffīn and to the question which believers then raised, as to the destiny on earth and the future destiny of the Muslim leader, and hence of all Muslims who sinned. Two initial trains of thought: a) the K̲h̲ārid…

, choice. For the use of the word as a juridical term, see k̲h̲iyār and naṣṣ ; in literary criticism, see naḳd ; in the sense of “elder”, see s̲h̲ayk̲h̲ . The immediately following article deals with the philosophical and theological senses of the word. As a philosophical term,
ik̲h̲tiyār means free preference or choice, option, whence: power of choice, free will. The word itself is not Ḳurʾānic but is common in the vocabulary of
ʿilm al-kalām and
fiḳh. The VIIIth form of the verb is, however, used in the Ḳurʾān, always referring to a divine act. “I have chosen you (
ik̲h̲tartuka …

may be considered as the
maṣdar of
karuma “to be generous, be beneficent, be
karīm (one of the “99 Most beautiful names of God” [see al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā ]). The root KRM appears frequently in the Ḳurʾān, and God is called there
al-Karīm “the Generous One”; the actual term
karāma is not however found there. If it was later adopted as a synonym of the
maṣdars of forms II and IV (
takrīm and
ikrām ), this seems very likely to have come about through phonetic assimilation to the Greek χάρισμα. In the technical vocabulary of the religious sciences,
karāma (pl.
karāmāt ) from now …

, Gehenna (Hebrew
gēhinnōm , valley of the Gehenna); the Arabic word evokes etymologically the idea of “depth” (cf.
infernus ). Used very often in the
Ḳurʾān as a synonym of
nār (“fire”),
d̲j̲ahannam must accordingly be rendered by the general idea of Hell. The same is true in traditions. Exegetists and many treatises on
kalām (or
taṣawwuf ) were, subsequently, to give it a particularized connotation. The description of the Muslim Hell, the problems relating to it and consequently the references to verses in the
Ḳurʾān mentioning
d̲j̲ahannam, are considered in the article nār: here only …

, the act of adhering firmly to something, hence a firmly established act of faith. In its technical sense, the term denotes firm adherence to the Word of God. It may be translated in European languages by the words “croyance”, “belief”, “Glauben”, with the proviso that this “belief” is not a simple “opinion” or “thinking” (
pensée ), but is the result of a deep conviction. As the root
tʿ-ḳ-d indicates, the idea of a “knot”, a bond established by contract, persists. The VIIIth verbal form combines with this a greater measure of firmness and coherence.
Iʿtiḳād recurs m…

, appeal, invocation (addressed to God) either on behalf of another or for oneself (
li...), or else against someone (
ʿalā ...); hence: prayer of invocation, calling either for blessing, or for imprecation and cursing, connected with the Semitic idea of the effective value of the spoken word. Cf. Ḳurʾān XVII, 11: “Man prays for evil as he prays for good”.—
Duʿāʾ therefore will have the general sense of personal prayer addressed to God, and can often be translated as “prayer of request”. I.—The scope and practice of
duʿāʾ . 1. In the Ḳurʾān,
duʿāʾ always keeps its original meaning of invo…

(a.), the action of raising oneself, of rising, and of resurrection. The root
ḳ-w-m is employed very frequently in the language of the Ḳurʾān.
Ḳiyāma occurs there seventy times, always in the expression
yawm al-ḳiyāma “the day of resurrection”. The resurrection of bodies follows the annihilation of all creatures (
al-fanāʾ al-muṭlaḳ ), and precedes the “judgment” (
dīn ), the “day of judgement” (
yawm al-dīn ).This will be the Last Hour (
al-sāʿa ).
Al-sāʿa ,
yawm al-ḳiyāma and
yawm al-dīn, taken as a whole constitute one of the “necessary beliefs” which determine the content…

, pl.
afkār , thought, reflection. The Ḳurʾān employs the 2nd and 5th forms of the root
fkr , to urge men “to reflect”. In the vocabulary of
falsafa and
ʿilm al-kalām , the
maṣdar fikr denotes the intellectual faculty in the act of thought, reflecting upon an object of intellection. It is distinguished from
idrāk , the intellectual faculty of grasping, of perception. The result of the operation of
fikr is expressed by the noun of unity
fikra . In
taṣawwuf ,
fikr is used habitually in contrast to
d̲h̲ikr [
q.v.], recollection.
Fikr can thus be translated by reflectio…

, God the Unique one, the Creator and Lord of the Judgment, polarizes the thought of Islam; He is the sole reason for its existence. ¶
Allāh was known to the pre-Islamic Arabs; he was one of the Meccan deities, possibly the supreme deity and certainly a creator-god (cf. Ḳurʾān, xiii, 16; xxix, 61, 63; xxxi, 25; xxxix, 38; xliii, 87). He was already known, by antonomasia, as
the God,
al-Ilāh (the most likely etymology; another suggestion is the Aramaic
Alāhā ).—For
Allāh before Islam, as shown by archaeological sources and the Ḳurʾān, see ilāh . But the vague notion of supreme (not sole) di…

, pl.
afʿāl , actuation, act, and sometimes the result of an act, that is to say effectuation, effect. From its current usage in Arabic, this word very quickly became a technical term (
iṣṭilāḥ ), not only in grammar but also in
falsafa and in
ʿilm al-kalām . If
ʿamal [
q.v.] designates the realms of ‘doing’ and ‘acting’ (whence ‘work’, human acts, and moral action), and thus has at least in its last meaning an ethical connotation,
fiʿl refers above all to noetic and ontological values: the fact of actuating, of passing (or causing to pass) to the per…

(Ḳurʾānic term), “pious goodness” (R. Blachère’s translation; see Ḳurʾān, ii, 189). In the analysis of the spiritual states (
aḥwāl ) and the attitude of the soul towards God, it must at the same time be compared with and distinguished from
taḳwā [
q.v.]. (L. Gardet)

The IVth form adds to the double idea of the root—purity and salvation—that of “dedicating, devoting or consecrating oneself” to something.
Ik̲h̲lāṣ is pre-eminently an interior virtue of the faithful Muslim, which implies both the unadulterated purity (and thus sincerity) of religious actions, pure (exclusive) worship given to God and pure (absolute) devotion to God and the Community of Believers. The perfection of one’s adherence, and witness, to faith is gauged by
ik̲h̲lāṣ and
iḥsān (uprightness in good). The Ḳurʾān often uses the participle
muk̲h̲liṣ , …

, “compulsion, coercion”, as opposed to
ik̲h̲tiyār , “freedom of choice”. Although the term itself, in its
maṣdar form, does not belong to the language of the Ḳurʾān, the verbal use of the VIIIth form is of relatively frequent occurrence there. The idea is that of an absolute necessity (
ḍarūra ), by means of physical (secondarily moral) compulsion. I.—
Iḍṭirār takes on its technical sense in connexion with the theory of human actions. It thus belongs to the vocabulary of the “science of
kalām ” (the “theology” or rather the “defensive apologia” of Islam). …

, “if God wills”, “If it pleases God”. The expression is usually called
istit̲h̲nāʾ , “formula of exception” (or “de conditionnement”, tr. H. Laoust). It means that God alone is the master of all that happens, as well as of the thoughts, acts and plans of man. In Islamic countries in ordinary speech it is used to qualify anything in the future, even the near future. Massignon describes this formula (
Passion , 585) as one which “est restée le signe distinctif, la parabole type de la vie sociale, pour la Communauté islamique”. The expression
in s̲h̲āʾ Allāh —or an equiva…

(a.), faith (in God),
maṣdar of the 4th form of the root ʾ
mn. The root has the connotations of “being secure, trusting in, turning to”; whence: “good faith, sincerity” (
amana ), then “fidelity, loyalty” (
amāna ), and thus the idea of “protection granted” (
amān ). The fourth form (
āmana ) has the double meaning of “to believe, to give one’s faith” and (with
bi) “to protect, to place in safety”. The root ʾ
mn is one of those most frequently found in the vocabulary of the Ḳurʾān, where
īmān means sometimes the act and sometimes the content of faith, sometimes bot…

— "The most Beautiful Names", these being the divine Names. "To God belong the most Beautiful Names—pray to Him, using (these Names)", Ḳurʾān, vii, 179. Cf. xvii, 110; xx, 8; lix, 24 etc. Pious Muslims have always revered the mystery of the Name, which at one and the same time both designates and veils the Named (cf.
ḥid̲j̲āb al-ism ).
The Theological question. A chapter of "Muslim theology" (
ʿilm al-tawḥīd ) is devoted to the divine Names. Problem stated: can one name God, and what, with regard to God, do the Names attributed to Him mean?
Preliminaries: What is the name (
ism …

, capacity, power to act,
maṣdar of the tenth form of
ṭāʿ , to obey. If the term itself is not ḳurʾānic, the verb
istaṭāʿ is used frequently in the text. Like its
maṣdar, it was to become a technical ¶ term of the
uṣūl al-dīn and the
ʿilm al-kalām . The translation “capacity” is generally used (for example Tritton,
Muslim Theology , London 1947, 68 and n. 2). Wensinckprefers “faculty”, others “power” (
pouvoir ). In this last sense, the
ʿilm al-kalām readily considers
ḳudra and
istiṭāʿa to be identical (see remarks of ʿAbd al-D̲j̲abbār,
S̲h̲arḥ al-uṣūl al-k̲h̲amsa , ed. …

, a term denoting, in the Ḳurʾān or
ḥadīt̲h̲s , the smallest possible appreciable quantity. The Ḳurʾān uses it five times, in the expression
mit̲h̲ḳāl al-d̲h̲arra , “the weight of a
d̲h̲arra” ,—to extol the Omniscience of God (X, 61; XXXIV, 3), or His absolute Omnipotence (XXXIV, 20), or His supreme Justice in retribution: IV, 40 and the celebrated text XCIX, 7-8 “He who shall have done the weight of one
d̲h̲arra of good shall see it; he who shall have done the weight of one
d̲h̲arra of evil shall see it”. Commentators on the Ḳurʾān and interpreters of
ḥadīt̲h̲s have explained
d̲h̲arra by two im…